Quote

Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don't think there's anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.

Ai Weiwei

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Ai Weiwei
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: May 18
Architect
Consultant
Contemporary Artist
Designer
Film Director
Human Rights Activist
Painter
Photographer
Sculptor
Social Activist
Peking
Wei-wei Ai
Weiwei Ai
Ai Wei Wei
Wrong
Incapable
Government
Meaningful
Anything
Chaos
Really
China
Think
Except
Thinking
Crazy
Courses
Course

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
China is an old nation with a colourful history. Its booming economy has triggered an appetite and a curiosity around the world for its art and culture, one that continues to grow. I can, however, tell people that it is a show with no actor.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My image of what a city should be - the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have some kind of a desire. It's a surviving game, people trying to survive on many different levels.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it's all we need.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
Ai Weiwei
Image
[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain
Ai Weiwei
Image
You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I don't think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn't be nervous about that.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The people who control culture in China have no culture.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
Ai Weiwei
Image
We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I want people to see their own power.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.
Ai Weiwei
Image
To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat. I don't care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
Ai Weiwei